


The Strangest Knitters of Them All

by GrayJay



Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Gen, Knitting, everybody knits, literal fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:19:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13176378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayJay/pseuds/GrayJay
Summary: In which Beast and Marvel Girl augment their training regimen.





	1. Casting On

For all her burgeoning telekinesis, Jean’s real superpower is keeping her temper in front of the Professor; so it’s not until they’re safely upstairs that the yarn and needles fly across the room and slam into the far wall.

Hank eyes the tangle on the floor. “You know,” he says, “It’ll probably be good practice. Fine motor coordination, all that--not every fight can be throwing cars.”

Jean snorts. “Then why doesn’t he have you doing it? _You_ can mess around with wires, but when it comes to Marvel _Girl_ , it’s straight to Home Ec. Every time.”

Hank picks up a knitting needle between his toes, spins it experimentally. “I could probably stand the practice, too,” he says. “I mostly use my hands in the lab. Electrocution risk, all that.”

Jean’s eyebrows go up. “You. Knitting. Really?”

Hank shrugs. “Rosey Grier does needlepoint.”


	2. Stockinette

Jean has pretty much gotten the hang of knitting, but purling is another story altogether, and her stockinette looks more like fishnet. Hank, meanwhile, is ahead by two infuriatingly even squares.

Oh, well. At least telekinesis makes it easier to pick up dropped stitches.


	3. Seed Stitch

“You could make a pretty cool sweater out of this,” Jean says. “If you knew how to do the edges, I mean.” They haven’t worked past rectangles yet, but she’s gotten the hang of purling. She’s faster than Hank now, too, even though she still drops more stitches.


	4. Making Up

They may not know how to do sweaters, but they’ve got enough squares and almost-squares to stitch together into a ragged afghan, which they present to the Professor. He oohs and ahs like a proud parent and drapes it over the back of the rec room sofa, where it remains until Jean takes it with her to Metro.


	5. 1x1 Rib

For Christmas, Hank gets ambitious, and after he and Jean pick out yarn for the scarves (Jean) and hats (Hank) they’re making for the rest of the team, he doubles back and buys six skeins of green wool and a sweater pattern that the woman behind the counter swears is beginner-friendly.

He doesn’t get it quite done in time--the hats take forever, since he has to hide them from the rest of the guys--and he’s sheepish until his present from Jean turns out to be one sock and an I.O.U. clipped to a photo of its half finished mate.


	6. Darning

“No, you have to stitch through--” Scott sighs and takes back the sock. “You know what? I’ll just do it.”


	7. Colorwork

“It’s the X-Gene!” Hank crows, brandishing an eight-foot streamer of taped-together graph paper like a banner.


	8. Drafting

The wings present some challenges, until they enlist Scott to swipe one of Warren’s shirts so they can examine the construction.


	9. Binding Off

Among the things Scott gives Hank after the funeral is a cardboard box with a dozen or so skeins of yarn, a handful of mostly mismatched needles and notions, and a few half-finished projects. Hank completes each one carefully, then folds it and puts it back in the box.


	10. Cable

In retrospect, baby Nathan’s blanket turned out to have been more prophetic than Hank expected.


	11. Picking Up

A few weeks after she comes back, Jean finds Hank in the living room, finishing the cuff on a mitten.

“You still knit?” she asks.

“Mm,” Hank affirms, darning needle in his mouth.

Jean reaches for the bin of yarn on the table, then pauses guiltily, hand hovering. “May I?”

“Of course,” says Hank.

**Author's Note:**

> For more superheroes knitting, see ["Idle Hands"](http://archiveofourown.org/series/316682). There's also [this Avengers gem](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1056574), which I did not write but heartily recommend.


End file.
